KWSO News for Fri., Sep. 30, 2022

Oregon is set to become the first state in the nation to cover certain climate change expenses under its Medicaid program. State health officials say the low-income health plan will cover devices such as air conditioners, air filters and generators for people with medical conditions who live in areas where a weather emergency has been declared. The measure is included in Oregon’s renewed Medicaid waiver. Oregon will pay for it with $1 billion in new federal funding. Under the waiver, the state will also become the first to keep children continuously enrolled in Medicaid until age 6.

Researchers at Oregon State University compiled almost a decade of workers compensation claims to look at the impact of high heat and wildfire smoke on rates of serious injuries. Lead author Richard Evoy (EE-voy) says the results they found were higher than expected. They found a 15 to 29 percent increase in injuries as the temperature went above 75 degrees. He says this research is important as the Pacific Northwest continues to experience hotter and drier summers. “We have seen that increasing temperatures are gonna happen across the U.S. and that there are health risks with extreme heat events. So it’s really important that we continue to study these and get more insight into how these events can impact workers’ lives and their health.” The injury rates were higher among agriculture and construction workers, who spend much of their time outdoors. Oregon adopted new protections this year to require breaks and training to help workers during periods of extreme heat and wildfire smoke.

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service today announced it has signed a cooperative agreement with the Yakama Nation Tribal Government under the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. Through LFPA, the Yakama Nation seeks to purchase and distribute locally grown, produced, and processed food from underserved producers. With the USDA Local Food Purchase Assistance Program cooperative agreement, the Yakama Nation will be able to provide fresh, nutritious produce to about 2,000 families in the Yakama Reservation communities of Wapato, Toppenish, White Swan, Harrah and Mabton.

In Local Sports: The Madras High School White Buffalo Football team is on the road today in League action taking on Pendleton/Nixyaawii. Madras is hoping to get back on track as they suffered their first loss of the season last week when they hosted Scappoose. Both Madras and Pendleton/Nixyaawii are 3-1 on the season with the Buckaroos coming off of a 42-0 win over Ridgeview last Friday. Kickoff is set for 7pm at the Pendleton High School. You can catch the Live action here on KWSO.

KWSO Weather for Central Oregon:

• Sunny today with a high near 78 degrees
• Tonight, Mostly Clear with a low around 47
• Sunny tomorrow with a high near 79 degrees
• Sunny on Sunday with a high of 83 degrees